Sunday, September 30, 2012

Instead of running my regular Saturday night game last night
I dragged my WWW2 stuff out to ToonCon
2012. I’d originally said I could run it for four, but planned to
take up to five or six. When I arrived they told EIGHT had registered – I had
enough stuff with me that I potentially COULD have run a game with eight… but
with that many players it could very easily bog down and have players getting
bored and wandering off. Luckily a few didn’t show up and I ran a game with
five.

One player was a friend of mine from Calgary that came out
for the convention (which is organized by a mutual friend). There was another
participant names Amy, who I think is from Saskatoon, and three enthusiastic young
fellows (I will call them The Three Amigos!) … I didn’t catch where they were
from… One was named Jared and another Ethan… and I can’t remember other their
friend’s name… or tell you which was which… (sorry guys...).

It was a fairly busy convention in a relatively small space
and I found the room very LOUD. I had to shout – almost non-stop for the three
and a half hours it took to play the game. So my throat hurts now... and my
ears are buzzing. I also had to run around the table and stand next to anyone
that was asking a question or saying something just to hear them. And it was a
bit warm… Other than that thought, I think everybody had a pretty good time.

SITUATION

Stalingrad 1942. A senior
Psionik with the BPO had detected the presence of a Nazi Blood Mage in
Stalingrad. A team was sent to deal with him and hopefully capture the Blood
Mage for interrogation and vivisection. When they arrived in Stalingrad the
Blood Mages work was apparent – Zombies roamed about the streets.

SCENARIO

Locate and Kill and/or Capture
the Blood Mage.

There is an NKVD MG team at the
start line that will fire at any Russians that retreat!

FORCES

Leytnant Pyotr Iliyavisch Putin
- Wild Card Platoon Commander – played by one of the Three Amigos

Ag d6, Sm d8, Sp d8, St d6, Vg
d6,

Pace 6, Parry 6, Toughness 5

Skills: Fighting d8, Shooting
d8, Notice d8, Stealth d6,

Edges: Command, Combat Reflexes

Gear: Pistol (Range: 6/12/24,
ROF 1, Damage: 2d6)

Serzhant Alexi Timurvich
Stanislav – Wild Card Platoon Sergeant - played by one of the Three Amigos

Note: there wwere three or four
Zombie Bombs – Zombies with bombs strapped to them and a crude triggering
device attached to their chest – when they charged into close combat they could
with a successful Fighting roll trigger the bomb. The Zombie would sustain 6D6
damage, the target (and anyone else in base contact) would get 5D6 damage, and
anyone else within 2” got 4D6 damage. The bombs could be targeted with shooting
which could detonate the bomb.

THE GAME

No one had played the game
before so after shouting a bit of an explanation of how the game works and the
mission for the team, I handed out some characters and had them set up at one
end of the table.

Unfortunately it was very dark
in the hall as well, so most of the few pictures I took turned out very, very
out of focus. As I was trying to keep the game going, I also didn’t end up
taking all that many…

(Remember: click on the pictures
for a bigger version)

The players stared at the bottom
edge of the table. A few Zombies could be seen roaming the streets.

The Platoon Commander, Sergeant,
Machine-Gunner and squad of extras headed up the one side, while the Sniper and
BPO Psionik headed up the other.

The Platoon Commander, Sergeant,
Machine-Gunner and squad of extras beat on some zombies and sprinted past the
survivors. One soviet riflemen was lost to a zombie bite, another to a sniper
shot.

The players pulled many, many
jokers and the reinforcement squads showed up fairly early. The second was
taken over by the Sergeant, the third which showed up a turn or two later was
taken over by Shawn.

In the middle of the pic is the
sniper having a sniper duel with the German sniper (in the top left of the
picture). BPO Psionik wandering about in the open after having just exploded a
few zombie heads.

Dead German sniper. I can’t
remember if it was the Soviet Sniper that took him out or the BPO Psionik… I
think they both had a go at him and caused wounds…

Feeling a little cocky, the BPO
Psionk wandered into a building that turned out to be full of zombies. It did not
go well for him… Luckily Shawn still had the reinforcement squad to play!

You can see one of the zombie
bombs milling about in the back. After this crowd ate the Psionik they came
shambling out to meet the second reinforcement Squad – lead by the zombie bomb
which detonated and took out the whole soviet squad (and a few zombied too!)

One of the other zombie bombs
had been detonated by the Machine-Gunner, which also took out a few zombies. A
third, encountered later, was detonated by the Sniper – taking a few more
zombies with it. Everyone thought this was great fun.

Amy, with Shawn hiding behind
her and two of the Amigos sitting. About half way through the game. The Amigos
characters (and supporting extras had just over run a machine-gun team that had
been hiding in the same building the sniper had been in.

Shawn’s reinforcement team
mopping up Zombies.

The Blood Mage was finally
located and the Three Amigos characters (and supporting extras) charged in!

The Blood Mage was actually
taken out by his own minders – who were under orders to, under no
circumstances, to allow him to fall into enemy hands alive. When three of the
Protection Detail had been taken out, the remaining two riddled the Blood Mage
at point blank range on their next activation.

(It was also getting late... I was getting tired...)

The Sniper took out the last of
the Protection Detail with a pretty awesome shot through a window…

Started at 7:30, ended around 11PM – three and a half hours
of non-stop, action-packed fun…. Thanks to all that participated and thanks to
John Burt for organizing the event.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Christian is back from Bordern and
joined us this evening with Agent Norman Van Alden of the Bureau for Paranormal
Research and Defence. Amanda (Dr. Sarah Berenstain), Rick (Lord
Stang),Patrick (Joey
Roberts), and Dave (Leonard
Tipple) were also able to make it out this evening….

I’ve been a little distracted by the arrival of Force
on Force and so a bit too much
of my hobby-reading time was taken up by that and thus I wasn’t as prepared for
this evening as I might have liked. Fortunately Christian is a fantastic
role-player and much of the evening was “bringing him up to speed” through his
characters interview of the others when he arrived on the scene…

WARNING: SPOILERS CONTAINED WITHIN - If ever you think you
might play the Cthulhu Now adventure At Your Door, read no further!

Thursday Night – 19 July 2012

The investigators began the session in the town of Delilah,
awaiting the arrival of the authorities. A 9-1-1 call had been placed to report
the dead body they’d found on Peter Tait’s recently acquired farm.

Sheriff Carter Jones got an urgent call from his own deputy insisting that he return immediately as there was a situation in town that required his immediate presence (Curtis couldn't make it out tonight).

The local
deputy arrived first and, after questioning the characters about the nature and
location of the body and their involvement in it, suggested that they wait for
the arrival of the State Police that were also on the way so they could show
them the way to the farm.

When all had arrived (it was now well after midnight) they
proceeded to Tait’s farm. The police refused to allow them to drive out into
the field as it might upset any evidence. The player characters were unwilling
to walk out into the field in the dark – covered as it was in the red plants.
So the police proceeded on their own.

The player
characrers watched them walk – or rather their flashlights bob about –
expecting them to be attacked at any moment. They heard oaths being issued (as
well as some vomit) when they arrived at the “scarecrow” and the police beat a
hasty retreat back to the cars on the road by the gate entrance to the farm.

It was decided that it would be best to call in the Feds on
this one. One of the State Troopers was posted guard over the farm and the rest
drove back into town to make calls and find a place to stay for the rest of the
night.

Friday – 20 July 2012

It was about noon when a pair of FBI agents arrived from
Samson. After a brief q&A they also proceeded out to the farm. Found a
state trooper still on guard (a different one as the previous one had been
relieved). The FBI agents took a brief look around, looked at each other and
decided it was time to call “The OTHER Bureau”…

Around suppertime Agents Van Alden and Mackie of the Bureau
for Paranormal Research and Defense arrived in Delilah. Van Alden questioned
the PCs extensively (bringing him up to speed on the investigation so far…).
This was a lot of fun to play out… Agent Mackie was dispatched into Samson to
recover the “sample” Peter Tait had provided and start looking into a few
leads.

While they were talking however they heard sirens in the
distance coming quickly toward Delilah. Apparently when the FBI Forensics team,
which had arrived in the afternoon and proceeded to record the scene)=, had
tried to cut the body down from the posts they were attacked. It wasn’t quite
clear what they were attacked by. The body?The plants!?

Everyone quickly made it out to the farm where they found a
few of the FBI team and the State troopers in a panic – mostly hiding behind
their cars witht their guns drawn – but not entirely sure who or what to shoot
at. There was a member of the forensics team lying in the field looking like
they were tangled in assorted plant material and darkness was quickly falling
around them.

At this point Agent Van Alden started making plans to have the
place razed by fire and called in a BPRD sampling and containment team. After
those plans were made Agent Van Alden, Lord Stang, Leonard Tipple and Joey
Roberts decided to drive out into the field to try and recover the FBI
forensics team member. Hanging out the back of the rental Hummer, Agent Van
Alden was liberally sloshing gasoline about from the cans they’d brought along
and started lighting fires.

When they were able to approach the FBI forensics team
member they could see that he was clearly dead and looked as though he’d been
strangled to death. Agent Van Alden made the call that they would not try to
recover the bodies but burned them right there.

The BPRD team arrived took samples and burned the rest of
the place down after Agent Van Alden had a look around at the Greenhouse and
farmyard. Though it seemed rather creepy in the dark – it seemed far less…
active…?

Saturday 21
July 2012

In the wee hours all drove back to Samson. During the drive back they learned of the Theatre shooting in Colorado...

Sarah realized she'd missed a number of anxious text messages from Jatik wanting an update and wondering why federal Agents had shown up at Zymotek, confiscating the "speciman". She called him back to give an update and ask how to proceed. Jatik said to continue the investigation into Tait's disappearance as he might still have useful information about what it was.

Later in
the morning they met at the Hotel for brunch and were contacted by Det. Sgt.
Joe Macklin who requested that they attend the Samson Hall of Justice to answer
a few more questions. Upon their arrival they were informed that when Det. SGt.
Macklin contacted Dawn Biozyme he had been informed that there was no such
“specimen” missing from their laboratory. Agent Van Alden assured the detective
that, whether it had originated from Dawn Biozyme, a “specimen” of the
description offered by the other characters was delivered to Zymotek on the
afternoon in question and was now in the hands of the BPRD.

It was at this point Agent Van Alden found out that some of
the attackers were in custody and requested that he be able to interview them…

At this point we had to call it a night.

Next week I am running a Savage Worlds: Wierd War Two game
at ToonCon2012 -
stay tuned for a report of that action. Hopefully the following week we’ll be
able to get back to this adventure!

WARNING: SPOILERS CONTAINED WITHIN - If ever you think you
might play the Cthulhu Now adventure At Your Door , read no further!

Noon, Wednesday,18 July 2012

Picking up from our previous
session, the investigators met at the Hotel Crocker for lunch. Joey
Roberts and Leonard
Tipple had spent the morning sleeping in after having spent most of
the previous day in the bathroom after eating some bad burritos on Monday (Dave
and Patrick missed last session).

After lunch they headed back to Peter Tait’s house (the
missing microbiologist from Dawn Biozyme that had supplied Full Wilderness with
the “specimen” that started this whole invstigation). Leonard Tipple spent the
next twelve hourse or so hacking into Tait’s home computer – which turned up a
whole lot of not much - other than extenseive contact lists of friends and
co-workers and a name and address for a phone number they had found printed on a
piece of paper they’d found in Tait’s car.

They tried phoning the number that belonged to a Harold
Gall, at 2AM – they’d tried a number of times during the day with no answer. A
rather abrasive and rude individual answered and, after a very brief conversation,
hung up. Wanting to know a bit more from Mr. Gall they headed to the address.

Mr. Gall turned out to be a thoroughly foul individual, but
the investigators managed to talk their way in and attempt to get some
information from Gall. They discovered that he had previously owned the farm
that Tait had recently purchased, that Gall had also worked for Dawn Biozyme,
and that, according to Gall, Tait had been taken by the Sewer People? Gall
apparently was working on something to “deal with” the Sewer People, which he
showed them. In a laboratory in the rear of his house the investigators were
treated to a mass of animal parts heads and legs of all manner of critters
(dogs, cats, skunks, rats, etc, etc…) all roughly sewn together – that Gall
seemed to be under the impression that he’d be able to animate and send into
the sewers to deal with the Sewer People!?

The following
day (Thursday, 19 July 2012), after sleeping in a bit they Investigators made
their way out to Tait’s farm after picking up all the items on his “list of
things to take to farm” that they had also discovered among the personal
affects left in his car. They stopped in the nearby town of Delilah and talked
to the locals about Tait and Gall and the farm.

At the farm The found evidence of someone leaving in a big
hurry torn up bits of the yard and skid marks on the road and the gate blown
off the hinges from within. The chicken coop seems to have recently been
destroyed, but otherwise there was no immediate sign of anything untoward in the
farmyard itself. In the field, however, they discovered a great many red plants
growing out of the carcasses of many critters scattered about the fields. There
was also a greenhouse that was absoloutly crammed with plants exhibiting some
bizarre and unnatural grown.

Sheriff Jones was positive that one had moved for him and
filled it full of lead. He was quite convinced that the plants on the farm were
the unnatural byproducts of aliens fornicating with plants and advocated that
the whole place be burnt to the ground! (I say we get us 10 canisters of Round
Up, roll them in there and defoliate the whole Effing mess…” or something like
that…)

Dr. Berenstain, however, insisted that none of the
“evidence” be disturbed. She was convinced that Jatik at Full Wilderness would
want to know about this place and have a chance to study it… “Clearly this is
an important species we’re dealing with and I don’t think you or I or anyone
has the right to arbitrarily exterminate it…” (or… something like that…)

I believe Sheriff Jones may have muttered something about
taking off and nuking the site from orbit…

They decided that Tait wasn’t here and things best be left
alone and turned over to Full Wilderness or the police or someone other than
themselves and it was time to go… It was getting dark… Bad things happen in the
dark…

Just as they were pulling out of the yard, however, a couple
of them noticed a reddish tinge to the scarecrow off in the field… could it be
the light of the setting sun…? or was it more of those damned plants!? No one
wanted to get out of the vehicles so they droved the rented Hummer over the
field to the scarecrow which they discovered to be a teenage boy, held to the
crosspiece by more of those unnatural red vined growing out from his ribcage, eyesockets,
mouth, ears, etc… They took pictures and sped out of there as fast a s they
could!

As there was no cell phone coverage in the valley they drove
all the way to Delilah and called 9-1-1. The County Sheriffs office and State
Police were notified and on there way. While awaiting their arrival to show
them the farm, the investigators asked around town if there were any missing
children and discovered one of the local farmers sons had run away a few months
back.

And that’s where we left it for the week – awaiting the
arrival of the authorities….

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

After
over a month off we’re finally back at it… sort of… As Amanda was away in
Vancouver when last we played she had to make up a character (Sarah Berenstain). Rick (Lord
Stang) and Curtis (Sheriff Carter
Jones) were also in attendance, Dave (Leonard
Tipple), Patrick Joey
Roberts) and Jackson (Dr. Blake) were MIA…

WARNING: SPOILERS CONTAINED WITHIN - If ever you think you might play the Cthulhu Now adventure
At Your Door , read no further!

Picking up from where we left
off… play began Tuesday morning (17 July 2012) when Lord Stang and
Sheriff Jones received a call asking them to attend the Samson Hall of Justice
and answer some questions for Detective Sergeant Joe Macklin about the previous
day’s shooting. They were met by Sarah Berenstain,
a Full Wilderness employee, who would be replacing Richard Slakes as their
liaison. Slakes had suddenly taken a leave of absence citing extreme anxiety
over the previous days shooting! Berenstain would also be taking a more active
roll in assisting the investigators (being a Player Character, and all).After some considerable questioning – which were all
answered straight up and truthfullyand giving the police a bit more to work, with they were allowed to
leave.

Before leaving, however, they were able to talk to Detective Sergeant
Jack Bolling about the missing researcher, Peter Tait. As they were very
forthcoming with their own information, Det. Sgt. Bolling was willing to share
some of the information he had (Note – I gave Det. Sgt. Bolling a bunch of the
stuff the Tait’s brother was supposed to have – I didn’t think the police would
give up evidence to a next of kin less than a week into the investigation…?!
Especially if there was a chance foul play might be involved). He even allowed
them to look at Tait’s car – which turned up some more evidence – Tait’s
journal, which was secreted in a slit in the mat under the drivers seat. As
they provided this valuable evidence to the police, Det. Sgt. Bolling allowed
them to make copies and read the journal, which provided a few new leads.